Sunday, 25 May 2008

Back the Gaffer

I'm afraid I've been a lousy blogger of late. Unfortunately, Roz has been quite ill and I've taken some time off to look after her.

That's why I spent Saturday watching Hull City's greatest moment from a pub in Kerry and not in block 122 at Wembley (glad to see JP went - apparently he got mobbed everywhere he went by City fans!) I still can't comprehend the upcoming fixtures list - goodbye Glanford Park, hello Old Trafford!

What struck me was we got promoted thanks to the inspired leadership of a certain Mr Brown. Compare Phil Brown's treatment - sacked by Derby after just seven months in charge - with Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson took over Man U in 1986 and after three seasons, had no silverware. Fans and journalists wanted his head. But the board stood by him, hoping that he would pull it around. Which he did, by making the right decisions in difficult times and getting on with the job.

In fact it wasn't until 1992-93 that he won the league. But since then, he has become the most successful manager of an English team of all time with 10 Premierships, five FA cups and two Champions Leagues titles!

What would have happened if Phil Brown had been given the chance to stay with Derby? Perhaps it's telling that the Tigers under his leadership have gone up as the Rams have gone straight down after a terrible season.

The point is it's all too tempting to sack the manager when the results aren't going your way.

If you're prepared to take more of a long-term view, you get results through consistency and stability.

But any successful manager has to learn from the mistakes of the past and use that experience to change tactics and strengthen the squad.

We're one nil down after 45 minutes - now is not the time to sack the Gaffer.

He needs the chance to make the right changes so we can kill 'em in the second half.